Saints Alive 1

The Christian community, from its earliest ages, has recognised and honoured Saints ~ people clearly and specially touched and blessed by God; some of them more famously than others. This Quiz will check on, and potentially increase, your acquaintance with some of these remarkable individuals.

1.

In New Testament times, even wandering preachers had to have a trade by which they could earn a living. Which ONE of the following is WRONG?

St Paul : tent-maker

St Luke : doctor

St Andrew : potter

St Matthew : tax-farmer

The original Andrew was one of Jesus' first fisherman disciples (who famously chose, or were chosen, to 'be fishers of men').

2.

St Bernadette was a miller's daughter in south-western France who, during the spring of 1858, had visions of the Virgin Mary. The site of these apparitions is now a major centre for pilgrimages and healing: where is it?

Pau

Lisieux

Lourdes

Compostela

There is plentiful literature on this story if you wish to research it further.

3.

St Pancras (of Rome) is probably best remembered now for his name having been given to an old London church, its successor building, its local district and latterly the national and international railway terminus.
The original Pancras was martyred for his faith by the Romans (under Diocletian) at a remarkably tender age, in AD 304. How old was he, reportedly?

9

11

13

14

The scene of him refusing 'worldly inducements' to renounce his faith, very probably in an un-'broken' voice, somehow echoes the famous Bible story of the 13-year-old Jesus debating matters of (Jewish) faith with the learned priests in the Temple on the occasion of his earthly family's Passover pilgrimage in the year when he was due to have his bar-mitzvah.

4.

In 1982 Argentina sparked a minor but unpleasant war with Britain over rights to what British people call the Falkland Islands: an archipelago very much nearer the Argentine mainland (in the South Atlantic) than to the United Kingdom. Spanish-speakers and others, quite understandably, preferred to use another name for the disputed islands and referred to them as 'Las Malvinas', believing the first colonists to have sailed there from the French port of St-Malo.
All very well until we find out what we can of the origins of St Malo (or Maclou) himself, one of Brittany's seven founding saints. There are some doubts and confusions amid the three preserved Latin versions of his life, but it seems most likely that he was born around 520 AD ... in which part of the British Isles?

Kent

Northumbria

Wales

Cornwall

Assuming this is true (and there appears to be no better or clearer record), the 'Malvinas/Malo' trail brings us back to British shores after all!

5.

Who is the Patron Saint of music, on whose feast day the British composers Henry Purcell and Benjamin Britten were each born?

St Felix

St Cecilia

St Luke

St Helen(a)

Her feast day is on 22 November.

6.

Who was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, and who is believed to have rediscovered the True Cross (of Calvary) about three centuries after the Crucifixion?

St Hannah

St Helen(a)

St Lydia

St Constance

This was Helen (or Helena) of Constantinople, who may have been born in Colchester. Much of the colourful and interesting legend about her is accessible on Wikipedia.

7.

The 'Union Jack' flag of Great Britain combines the emblematic crosses of the four patron saints of the British Isles' constituent nations. Working clockwise from the most northerly, these are:

George (England), Patrick (Ireland), David (Wales), Andrew (Scotland)

Andrew (Scotland), George (England), David (Wales), Patrick (Ireland)

Andrew (Scotland), David (Wales), Patrick (Ireland), George (England)

Patrick (Ireland), Andrew (Scotland), David (Wales), George (England)

You can check these online or against an atlas!

8.

St Francis ~ who famously loved and respected all living things, including the animal kingdom in all its diversity ~ is traditionally associated with which city?

Florence

Padua

Rome

Assisi

You may be familiar with the widely-sung version of his prayer that begins with the words. 'Make me a channel of your peace ... '.

9.

Which Saint brought Christianity to the south-east of Britain in AD 597, founding the See of Canterbury?

St George

St Clement

St Augustine

St Edmund

Do not confuse him with his namesake St Augustine of Hippo (in N Africa) who founded the 'Austin Friars' and left a substantial corpus of devotional writings.

10.

St Simeon Stylites (early 4th century) was an ascetic, or hermit, who chose to live very frugally and all alone ... where?

On a very small platform on top of a pillar

In a forest teeming with man-eating wolves

On a tiny island

In a cave

Although he did his best to isolate himself and live a life of prayer and contemplation, large crowds apparently used to come and beseech him for preaching, wisdom and advice.